Doin' a Dime by Vale, Lynn (learn to read activity book .txt) 📕

“Yes,” I confirmed.

“Good,” he said. “How fast do they think that you’ll be able to finish your nursing program?”

I rolled my shoulders. “If all goes well, I’m going to get it done in two years. Summer, fall, winter, spring, summer.”

He nodded once. “I’ve already set it up to have my accounts pay for your schooling. No matter what you take. Assuming you’re still going to Texas University.”

My mouth all but fell open. “Yes.”

“Good,” he said. “I have you now set up in their database as Wyett Villin, though. You might want to remember that when you go to sign up for their classes.” He kept walking, going down the opposite side of the hallway this time as he pushed open doors.

All in all, he had six bedrooms, all of which were unfurnished but the two.

He led me to his kitchen where there was a stack of papers on his counter.

“Bank account information.” He pushed it toward me. “Emergency numbers in case you need them. My family knows that I’ll be going to prison, and they know that the property has a caretaker, so they shouldn’t be coming around. Do not let them inside. Please.”

I nodded mutely.

“My reasons for marrying you,” he hesitated. “I don’t trust my family at all. I needed someone that could override their greed. They’re good people. Nice. But they fucking suck at managing money. I haven’t given them your name or anything, so they shouldn’t be able to find you. But if they do… please let me know.”

“H-how?” I asked.

“Good ol’ fashioned snail mail,” he said as he tapped the packet. “Everything that you need to know about me is in there. My attorney has notarized everything. You have access to my bank accounts. My house. My cars. Anything that you might or might not need.” He paused as he stared into my eyes. “You’re more than welcome to use one of my cars and sell yours. In fact, you can just have one.”

I swallowed hard. “Okay.”

“I need to reiterate about my family,” he said. “They’re not really all that nice to new people. And they’re kind of pissed that I allowed someone that wasn’t them to take care of my stuff.”

“Is that the main reason that you wanted this?” I gestured to the space between him and me.

His lips quirked.

“Not really, no,” he admitted. “You intrigued me from the moment that you allowed me to tug on your eyelashes. I looked into you and knew that you’d be perfect for what I had in mind.”

I wondered just how much he’d looked into me.

Were we talking about my entire life? Or just the basics?

I found that I really didn’t want to know.

Because, whether he did it on purpose or not, he was doing me a huge favor by giving me somewhere to live.

For the next four years, I wouldn’t have much to worry about.

I could go to school and focus. I could work. I could get the experience that I needed, then I could go back to school to be a nurse anesthetist like I’d always wanted.

He was giving me that ability because I knew for a fact that shit was about to get ugly with my aunt.

Knew it deep down in my heart.

Which meant soon, despite having money, I wouldn’t have access to it.

So, despite him ‘looking into me,’ I couldn’t be mad that he’d done it. Sure, it was an invasion of privacy. Sure, he shouldn’t have done it.

But, saying that, I was getting the better end of the deal here.

And he’d be gone for a while after this.

“Do they allow visits?” I found myself asking.

He blinked. “As far as I know, yes.”

“What about the dogs?” I asked. “Can I bring dogs to visit?”

Silo and Bones, his beautiful Dobermans, sat at his feet.

They’d followed him all the way through the house, one at each side, like they’d done it a hundred times before.

They looked well attached to him.

They wouldn’t understand why he wasn’t there anymore.

He dropped his hands down to the dogs’ heads, almost blindly, and sighed. “I’ve already pushed them quite a bit with my demands. As much as I’d like to say that I could push them into this, they’re going to be pretty non-lenient with me from here on out.”

I pursed my lips. “If you can ever get them to allow that… I’ll come.”

His lips twitched. “I’d like that.”

“What about me?” I asked.

His eyes seemed to sober. “I’m going to be four hours away. As much as I’d love to have you visit, I can’t ask that of you.”

With that parting comment, he looked at his watch, and his shoulders seemed to slump. “I’ll see you in hopefully four years, dear.”

Then he dropped down to his knee, his arms going around each of the dogs.

“You two be very, very good for your new mom,” he ordered gruffly as he pressed a kiss to each dog’s shiny coat. “I’ll bet she’ll even give you the same treats as I do in the jar on the counter.”

I would.

Every freakin’ day.

“How often?” I asked, feeling a lump form in my throat.

He grinned and gave each dog one last scratch before standing. “They con me out of them way more than I should admit. Whatever you feel like is enough is good for them.” He tapped the folder. “Any and every question I could think that you’d ask is in there. If you need anything, I have phone calls that I can make, but it’ll have to be on their schedule, not mine.”

I frowned hard. I was honestly quite upset at this point.

I felt like I was losing something important. What that importance to me was at this point, I didn’t know. But it was like something in my gut was telling me not to let him go.

On impulse, I launched myself forward and threw my hands around his waist.

He froze.

“Thank you,” I whispered. “I know you have no clue what you’ve saved me from but thank you anyway.”

His